Benders from Beyond the Dark continent
by moonstruckOtaku
Summary: After finding a strange temple door in a forest team Avatar is pulled into a strange new land and separated. Can they find each other and a way home? With the help of some new friends of course.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue.**

"Wow, I haven't been to this place in forever!" Aang said as they flew over a forest near the edge of the earth kingdom on Appa.

"Where?" Toph asked

"This forest, I remember coming here when I was smaller."

"Were there fruit or nut trees there?" Katara asked while stopping Momo from digging through the ration bag "We're running low on food again."

"There probably are." Aang reassured her "we'll land and make camp here for a little while."

"Yeah, if nothing else there's probably animals I can hunt there." Sokka said

They landed and began to make camp. Aang and Sokka went scouting ahead for food or trouble. When Aang noticed something strange, it looked like a stone door covered in weeds.

"Hey Sokka, look over here!" Aang called while clearing off the weeds "it looks like a temple of some sort."

"Yeah so?" Sokka asked "We're looking for food, not temples."

"This could be important though," Aang replied "Hey look, two left hand prints. Here put your hand here and help me push." Sokka moaned but did what Aang asked anyway. No matter how hard they pushed the door wouldn't budge.

"See? The thing is sealed anyway." Sokka said "Probably for a good reason so let's just leave it alone."

"Yeah your prob-" Aang began but as he tried to take his hand away the door wouldn't let go "Sokka it won't let go of my hand!"

"What?! Are you sure?!"

"Yeah! What should we do?!"

"Just wait here I'll go get the others!"

Fifteen minutes later all the others, including Momo and Appa , were there to help. Toph inspected the handprint,

"It's not rock or metal, I can't bend you out of there twinkle toes." She stated. Everyone tried everything they could think of, cutting the door with water, using Sokka's knife as a crowbar, Aang sneezing his way out of it, but none of it worked. Eventually Everyone, even Appa was pulling on Aang trying desperately to free him. They tried that for fifteen minutes before they took a break.

"This day couldn't be going any worse." Sokka moaned.

"The Avatar!" Everyone turned and saw Zuko standing in the grove before them. Sokka gave a discontented scream

"Quick! Figure out how to get Aang out of there!" Katara plead trying to free Aang's hand.

"You won't get away this time!" Zuko exclaimed, sending a ball of fire hit the door to the right of them. As the fire hit the stone a bright white light began to emanate from the door. There were confused screams from everyone. Toph said she could feel the door opening but voices were getting confused and lost. Suddenly the group felt as if they were being separated.

 **Chapter one: Katara**

It was a stormy night in Sindria, Sinbad was looking out at the beach to the south. The storm had started very suddenly, it was odd. It was dark and the darkness was occasionally broken by bolts of lightning. Sin was shocked by the sight of what looked to be a young girl parting a small bit of water, no she couldn't have been parting the water, it must've been a trick of the light. As soon as she got to the beach she collapsed. His interest peaked he ordered her to be brought from the beach into the palace and to be cared for. When she was brought she was in very poor shape. She was unconscious and being carried by Drakon. In her arms she clung to a small, white, bat-like creature. Which was staring with wide yellow eyes and making nervous chittering sounds. Sin Examined her condition, she was breathing very rapidly and shallowly, occasionally she would give a feeble cough. She was wet and smelled of salt and sea foam, she seemed to have a chill from being out in the rain. Sin Ordered her to be cleaned and dried as best they could manage without being invasive. He didn't want to offend this strange visitor. He couldn't help a small nagging feeling in the back of his mind that this girl's arrival meant that something interesting was going to happen.

Katara slowly fluttered her eyes open. She was in a very luxurious looking room laying on top of a soft bed. Her hair was out of it's normal braid and smelled vaguely of soap, although the rest of her smelled like salt water. She was confused and scared, but when she tried to sit up she found she was too weak to move. She tried to call out but her throat was dry and she couldn't get the sound out. She looked to her left and saw a pitcher filled with water on a nightstand. Too weak to pour a glass she used her bending to lift a bubble of water to her mouth. She was about to call out to someone, but there was a sound of a glass shattering and manny scrolls hitting the ground. She turned to the right and saw a man with purple hair and lots of fine jewelry and a blue haired woman standing in the doorway, at their feet was a broken wine glass and a stack of scrolls being stained by the wine.

"How did you do that?!" The woman exclaimed

"What?" Asked Katara, her strength returning enough to sit up.

"You controlled the water without using spells or magoi!" The woman continued

"Mago-what?" Katara asked

"Don't tell me you don't know you're a magician!"

"Magician? No I'm not."

"Yes you are. You'd-" The woman began, but was interrupted by the man.

"Yamahara, you're being a bit rude to our guest." He said to the woman gently "She's just barely regained her strength, and already you're pestering her with questions." The man finished while taking steps to Katara's bedside.

"I am king Sinbad of Sindria." He introduced himself

"Sindria?" Katara asked "What kingdom is this a part of?"

"What? Sindria is it's own kingdom, on this island." Sin replied

"I've never heard of this place." Katara said

"Where are you from?" Sin asked

"I'm Katara, from the southern water tribe."

"Southern…...water…..tribe?" The two puzzled

"You know, the southern water tribe."

"Never heard of it." Sinbad replied earnestly. Before anything else could be said Momo flew in and landed on Katara's shoulder.

"Momo!" Katara exclaimed happily. "It's good to see a familiar face. Wait! Where are the others?!"

"Who?" Asked Sin

" The other people I was traveling with. Aang, he's bald with arrow tattoos and a staff, Sokka my brother, and Toph, she's a blind girl with black hair."

"I'm sorry, but you were the only one to come ashore." Sin finished

"That can't be, there's no way! We were all together!" Katara said

"Well, they probably got swept away by a different current." Sinbad suggested "Where were you shipwrecked?"

"We weren't." Katara said then she explained the forest situation.

"It sounds like what your friend was trying to open was a dungeon, and when that Zuko guy hit it with his fire there was some sort of magoi reaction which triggered spontaneous teleportation." Yamahara said "If that's the case they could be anywhere."

Katara gave a sad sigh and scratched Momo behind his ear, he chittered sadly.

"So if you don't mind my asking," Yamahara continued "How did you control the water without using magoi?!"

"I don't know what magoi is." Katara stated "But I can move the water because I'm a waterbender."

"A waterbender?" Yamahara asked excitedly "Can you explain what that is? Wait! Let me get one of my scrolls so I can write this down." She began looking through the messy pile of wine-soaked scrolls on the floor, casting aside the ones that were completely ruined. Before she could find a scroll that was satisfactory to her Sinbad began to shuttle her out of the room

"Don't pester her now," He said "She only just woke up. And you'll have plenty of time to ask her questions later." He turned to Katara and smiled "Rest as long you need to, people will be in and out to check on you. Once you feel up to it be sure to explore the palace. And I'm sure Yamahara would be grateful if you came to answer her questions. Also your personal belongings are in the chest at the foot of your bed, and there's a bathing room about three doors down the hall on the left."

As they left Katara began to ponder to herself 'Anywhere in the world," she thought 'I wonder how big this world is. How long would it take me to find them?' Sensing her deep and depressing thoughts Momo nuzzled her hand with his nose. Katara smiled at the lemur, "Thanks Momo, if nothing else I have you here."

She was beginning to feel a slight bit stronger, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave her room yet. She looked through the box that Sinbad had said her belongings were in. She found her hair ties, waterskin, and her Mother's necklace. Nothing seemed to be out of place.

Sinbad sat at his desk looking over things that Ja'far had said were important, but his mind was only half in it.

'That girl….Katara was her name I think….if what Yamahara said about her was true,' he thought to himself 'She could be a valuable asset. She said she wants to find the people she was traveling with. I could offer to help her with that, and if that's not enough to get her to side with me, I can always use my charm.'

Ja'far came in and interrupted his thoughts

"Have you finished those papers I brought in yet?" He asked

"Nearly." Sin replied "Has anyone checked on Katara lately?"

"Katara?" Ja'far asked puzzled

"The girl we pulled off the beach last night."

"Oh, the girl Yamahara won't shut up about. No, not lately."

"Well someone should, has Yamahara told you about her ability to control water without magoi?" Sin asked.

Ja'far nodded

" I think she could be a valuable tool if that's really the case."

"I suppose I can see your logic there," Ja'far replied "I'll go check on her, you finish those documents."

Sin nodded and returned to work. Ja'far left to check on her.

Katara was sitting on the bed thoughtfully petting Momo when Ja'far came in.

"Excuse me." He said respectfully as he walked in.

"Who's there?" Katara asked.

"My name is Ja'far, I'm another one of Sinbad's generals."

"Oh, why are you here?"

"Sinbad sent me to check on you."

"Really? I didn't think it'd been that long since he was here."

Ja'far shuffled his feet awkwardly wondering what to say next. He noticed the state of Katara's clothes, they were torn, stained, and smelled of salt water and fish.

"If you'd like," Ja'far began "I could find you some clean clothes to change into."

" Oh! No that's ok," Katara said realizing the state she was in "I suppose I should clean up a bit though."

"Only if you're feeling up to it." Ja'far replied. He took that as his cue to go back and report Katara's condition back to Sinbad.

Katara had cleaned her clothes and repaired the most obvious rips and washed herself and put her hair back in order. She left the bathing room and retrieved Momo and her water skin from her room. Then she decided to try and find Yamahara, Katara had questions about where she was and she figured Yamahara was her best bet. The problem being she had absolutely no idea where she was going. The palace was massive and had lots of confusing passageways.

"Geez Momo," Katara said "The only place this big I've ever seen was the earth king's palace. I wonder how important this Sinbad fellow is if he can afford-" Her words were interrupted as she rounded a corner and bumped into a tall muscular man with pink hair.

"Oh I'm sorry." She said.

The man glared.

"Uh, do you think you could help me?" She continued "I'm trying to find….I think Yamahara was her name….but I'm not used to this place and, well."

"Alright, follow me." He replied

"Thank you mr…."

"You can call me Masrur."

"Thank you Masrur, I'm Katara."

Masur nodded, signaling that he'd heard her and they walked on.

Yamahara was organizing things on her shelves when Katara came in.

"Katara," Yamahara began delightedly, dropping everything she was doing "I take it you're feeling better?"

"Yeah." Katara replied. Before she could get another word out she was shuttled to a chair in front of a desk, and even faster than that Yamahara was behind the desk with a quill and parchment. Startled by the sudden movement Momo flew to a nearby shelf and perched there hissing slightly.

"You don't need to worry about him." Katara assured her "He's harmless."

"Okay then," Yamahara replied "Tell me, what exactly is a waterbender? And speak slowly so I can write this down."

"Uhh, I'm not sure how to answer that," Katara said "If I had to describe it, I'd say it's a bit like being like the water, smooth and flowy."

"Uh-huh, Are everyone waterbenders in your land?"

"Oh, no. I'm the last southern waterbender, there are more in the north though. My friend Toph is an earthbender, and there are plenty of non-benders too, like my brother."

"Oh I see!"

"Uh, Yamahara, if you wouldn't mind I have a few questions of my own."

"Oh, of course, ask away."

"Well, the first thing I have to ask is who exactly is this Sinbad guy?"

"Oh, he's the ruler of Sindria. He's conquered several dungeons, and has the djinns to prove it."

"Djinns? What are those?"

"Magical beings that dwell in the treasure rooms of dungeons, they give the dungeon capturer powers, depending on the Djinn the powers vary."

"Oh, they're like spirits."

"What spirits?"

"The spirits that guard our world, some are good, some are bad, but most all of them are powerful."

"Fascinating!"

"So, how far is Sindria from other lands?"

"The closest land is Balabad, and even then it's a little more than a week's voyage."

"That's right, it'll probably take me longer to travel now that I don't have Appa."

"Appa?"

"My friend Aang's flying bison."

"Your friend has a flying what? I bet Pisti would love to see that!"

"Pisti? Who's she?"

"Another one of Sinbad's eight generals. There's Ja'far, Sharrkan, Masrur, Pisti, Spartos, Drakon, Hinahoho, and myself."

"Oh, I see." Katara said.

"So, uh, If it's not asking too much of you, would you mind demonstrating some waterbending for me?" Yamahara asked excitedly.

"Uhh, I suppose."

"Great!" Yamahara mused. She poured a small amount of water into a bowl and set it before Katara. Katara started bending, just moving the water around in the bowl, then she froze it.

"Wow! You froze it! Without an exchange of magoi!"

"You keep using that word, "Magoi", what's that?"

"Well, in short, it's the energy of life. Magicians, like myself, can exchange magoi to perform feats of magic, but if we use too much it can injure us and even kill us."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense, sort of."

Before any other questions could be asked Sinbad came in.

"Ah, I had a feeling you'd be here." He addressed Katara.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to come into this part of your palace."

"Oh no, you're alright. I was just curious as to whether or not you were feeling better." Sinbad replied.

"Sin, come watch this!" Yamahara interjected "It's amazing!" Sin walked over to the left of Yamahara and watched.

"Do what you did again." She asked Katara. Katara took a deep breath and melted the ice, then began to move it around in the dish, finally she turned the water to steam.

"Wow!" Yamahara squealed "Incredible!"

'Interesting,' Sin thought 'I wonder to what extent these powers of her's go. Sindria is surrounded by sea after all, she could indeed be useful.'

"Fantastic," Sin said "Katara, do you think you could spar with Yam?"

"Huh?Why?" Katara asked.

"She's a water magician, I thought you'd like to have a sparring partner during your stay here."

Before Katara could say anything else Yamahara spoke,

"Oh please Katara, I mean, only if you're feeling up to it of course. But I'd really love it if you would!"

"Uhhh," Katara thought out loud "Sure, I suppose."

Katara wasn't sure what she'd agreed to. They were out in a courtyard, Yam seemed ready and excited, Sinbad was watching and it seemed they'd gathered the attention of a few others, a tan man with white hair as well as Ja'far and Masrur.

"Ready?" Yamahara asked.

"As I'll ever be." Katara swallowed while uncapping her water skin. Yamahara started by casting a simple water projectile spell, Katara knew the smart thing to do was to redirect them back.

"Amazing!" Yam gushed "I've never seen something like that!"

Seeing an opportunity Katara sent ice projectiles whizzing toward Yamahara. They shattered on her borg.

"Good try!" Yam said.

After Katara got over her initial shock, she noticed that one of her icicles had made a small crack in the borg then she knew how to break it. She needed a bit more water than what she had though. Yam sent another round of water projectiles at her, Katara gathered the water together, it was just enough. Katara took her water and sent it rushing in a wave towards Yam and when it reached her she froze it. The force the ice exerted as it shrunk created cracks in Yamahara's borg.

"Astounding! I can't believe you figured out how to do that without using a smashing force!" Yamahara exclaimed. Katara knew that if she were to hit it again it would break. She melted the ice and gathered what water she could, and while Yam was still distracted she used her whip technique to smash the borg. The fight ended shortly after, Katara had won.

"That was one of the most amazing fights I've ever been a part of!" Yamahara squealed

"Well that's certainly flattering." Katara blushed "But, if you really want a good fight you should spar with my master, Paku, sometime."

"You really are impressive Katara." Sinbad said

"Thank you sir." She replied.

"So, I bet you'd like to see more of the island, right?" Sinbad asked.

"Uh, well, I suppose it'd be a good Idea." She replied

"Well then, why don't I show you around?" He continued

"Well, that's a very kind offer," Katara began "But-"

"Let's go then." Sin interrupted.

The market was a very busy place. Katara was used to busy market streets though.

'I suppose,' Katara thought 'A market's a market no matter where you go.' Without warning Sinbad took Katara's hand. Katara pulled away and casted Sin a look of confusion.

"What was with that?!" She asked

"These streets are quite busy," He explained "I just thought we might not want to get separated."

"I can navigate a market. It's something that I actually have to do quite often."

"Oh that's right, I forgot you were a traveler. My apologies" Sin said "Speaking of that, I take it you're going to want to find your friends and brother."

"Yes, it's very important that we get back on our way."

"Really? Is it that important?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, I was going to tell you you're welcome to stay," Sin began "But, if it's important for you to find them I'd be more than willing to help."

"That's very kind of you, but all I should really need is a map and a small ship."

"Woah, don't be in such a hurry!" Sin grinned " You only just got your strength back, it wouldn't be a wise decision to leave in such a hurry."

Katara smiled back

'I've got to keep her here long enough to develop attachment,' Sinbad thought 'It's the only way.'

"I suppose you're right," Katara said "It wouldn't do my friends any good if I died at sea."

Katara spent probably a good three hours wandering about with Sinbad. She had told him she was feeling weary and wanted to go back to rest. It wasn't a lie, and Sinbad could tell. Katara went back to bed and napped for probably about four hours. When she woke up she was shocked for about five seconds, she still wasn't used to the surroundings of Sindria.

'I can't believe how weak I felt,' She thought 'I guess it really wouldn't be a good idea to go traveling on my own.' Katara got up and decided to walk. Eventually she found her way back to the courtyard and found Momo napping in a tree.

"I'm glad you can relax Momo," She thought outloud "I can't help being worried about Aang and the others. I hope they're okay."

Sensing her emotional distress Momo moved from his branch to her shoulder. Katara gave Momo a happy scratch behind his ear.

"Yo!" A voice said from behind her, it was the tan man with white hair from earlier "You're Katara right?"

"Yeah, who're you?"

"I'm Sharrkan,"

"Oh, you're one of Sinbad's generals, right?"

"One of? That's one way of saying it."

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, not 'wrong', I think 'uneducated' would be a better choise of words."

"Oh?"

"I happen to be the best swordsman in all of creation."

"Okay then," Katara said skeptically "Is there a particular reason that you needed me?"

"Nothing much, we just thought you'd like to eat. You have to be hungry right?"

"A little, I suppose."

"Well come on then, we're having dinner now."

"Oh, uh,"

"What?"

"Well, I just didn't expect that. Normally when I've stayed with nobles I didn't eat with them."

"Just c'mon, You said you were hungry, so come and eat." Sharrkan said leading Katara on. Katara felt a little awkward during dinner. She was seated at a corner of the table right between Yam and sin, and she didn't know what anything was so she didn't really want to eat very much. But by the same token she was hungry so she ate. Yamahara asked her more questions, but that actually reassured Katara a little bit. For some reason Yam was very calming to Katara. She was so earnestly nice and curios that it made her very at ease. Then there was Sinbad, Sin was slightly off-putting. He seemed to be oddly interested in her, he'd interject randomly into the conversation.

"So The others you were traveling with, how many of them are benders? Other than you." Sin asked out of the blue

"Uh, well...there's Toph an-..." Katara paused, she wasn't sure if she should mention Aang being a bender, She knew him being the avatar might not mean too much to these people, but him being able to bend all of the elements definitely would. She wasn't sure she could trust this Sinbad character.

"What?" Sin asked During her pause

"I Just said, Toph is the only other bender." She corrected hastily.

'She's hiding something.' Sinbad thought 'I suppose I can't expect her to be completely honest with me yet, I just need to get her to trust me.'

Katara was back riding on Appa, it was a warm summer day and the air smelled sweet. Everyone was laughing and it seemed normal enough, but in the blink of an eye the sky turned dark and a storm began to rage. Before she knew what was happening, the sea had swallowed them all.

Katara woke up with cold sweat on her forehead.

"Oh, man, it was only a nightmare." She gasped. After she got a hold of herself she got up and looked out her window. It was late at night, but she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. She left her room to take a late night walk. The palace looked so different at night, Katara got lost easily.

"Okay this is enough walking around," She muttered to herself "If I could just find my way back to my room that'd make me happy."

Sin was walking back from his study after dealing with a couple dozen more forms.

"Man," Sinbad yawned "Ja'far has really been piling the work on me, I wonder why." As he was walking he noticed Katara darted past.

"Hey wait up." He called after her

"Oh Sinbad," She said.

"What're you doing out here so late?" He asked

"Oh, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a walk."

"Well then, mind if I join you."

Katara was going to explain to Sin that she was going back to her room, but he started leading her around before she could get any other words out.

"So how are you liking it here?" He asked

"It's a very beautiful island," Katara said

"I'm glad you think so, I know a place where the view is particularly nice."

"I'm sure it's lovely but-"

"Well then I'll show you." Sinbad finished

'How did this happen?' Katara thought 'I just wanted to go back to bed, how did I end up looking over a cliff with Sinbad?!'

"What did I tell you? Isn't the view nice here?" Sin asked

"Lovely," Katara replied "You really didn't have to take me here though."

"I was coming here anyways." Sin replied. Katara looked out over the ocean. She became absorbed in thought once again. Sinbad took this as an opportunity to start making a move, He very casually reached out his arm and hooked it around Katara. She pushed him away swiftly.

"What was that?!" She asked

"What was what?" Sin replied

"Don't pull that! You put your arm around me!"

"Oh, did you not want me to?"

"No! I didn't! I barely know you! Why would I want you to hold me like that?!" Katara yelled furiously

"I am sorry. I didn't realize you felt that way."

Katara had had enough, without warning she slapped Sinbad across his face. She began to stride away but as she did she called back over her shoulder

"I didn't think I gave any indication that I felt any other way!"

Sin stood in shock for a few moments, it took him a few moments to understand what had just happened

'She really isn't like most other girls I've met,' Sin thought while bewilderedly rubbing his cheek 'This might be a little harder than I thought.'

Katara woke the next morning, she was still a little angry, but it had more or less subsided by that point. She left her room and felt the golden sun on her face, it reminded her of the long lazy days on Appa, she felt longing, but happy at the same time, it was a weird set of emotions. Not sure what else to do with her time Katara went to see if Yamahara wanted to talk.

Sinbad was talking with Ja'far. He'd explained what'd happened the previous night, after Ja'far was done scolding him for his behavior, Sin asked what he should do.

"It sounds like you made her mad, so the first thing you should do is apologize."

"I figured that much." Sin replied.

"And I'd recommend you get to that sooner rather than later." Ja'far added

Sin nodded

"Oh, that's Sin for you." Yam said to Katara

"You're kidding me right? He thinks he can be that grabby with any girl?" Katara asked in shock

"Oh I'm sure he has a reasonable explanation." she replied "Sometimes he just doesn't think."

A knock came to the door, Sinbad let himself in. Katara scowled at him and crossed her arms.

"I, uh, I thought you might be here." He said to Katara "Would you mind if I spoke to you for a moment?"

Katara glared angrily for another moment then went to follow him. The stepped out into the empty hallway.

"What do you want?" Katara asked

"I came to apologize." Sin began "I wasn't in my right mind last night, I shouldn't have behaved the way I did. I hope you can forgive me."

Katara thought for a moment "I suppose I can forgive you if this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

"Of course," Sinbad replied " I can assure you I won't do something so rash again."

The next week or so passed slowly. Katara tried, in vain, to avoid Sinbad. He seemed persistent with spending time with her, and it was irritating. Katara practised a lot with Yamahara and she made pretty good friends with her and liked the other generals well enough, Sharrkan got on her nerves frequently, but she didn't hate him, Hinahoho was kind enough, she didn't run into Drakon or Spartos enough to form an opinion about them one way or the other, Masur was nice, although he was a little unapproachable, and Ja'far was friendly and courteous although he was busy a lot and therefore Katara wasn't able to talk with him often. One day Katara was talking with Yam and Pisti about how she was liking it on the island when Yam brought up something that had never even crossed Katara's mind.

"You know, if you really like everyone here that much, you could just stay."

"What?" Katara asked in shock

"We weren't going to tell you," Pisti began "But, Sin has been saying that if you want to become one of his generals you can. We were just thinking that since you get along with everyone here so well, and we really like you too, that maybe it'd be better for you to just stay here on Sindria."

"That's really sweet of you guys," Katara began "But my friends need me."

"Well, maybe your friends could come here too." Yam replied "I'm sure that Sin wouldn't mind them, the army could always use more forces after all."

"No, that's not going to work either, it's very important that we find a way back home as soon as we possibly can." Katara replied.

"Why is it so important?" Pisti asked

"Because…" Katara struggled to find the right words. "The fire lord is planning something terrible, and we have to stop him."

"That sounds like a big job for such a small group." Yam said. "We might be able to offer some help if you need it."

"That's very kind of you." Katara began "But, we shouldn't really need it."

"Why?" Yamahara asked

Katara sighed "I'm going to tell you something important," she began "But you can't tell Sinbad, I know you probably think that's ridiculous, but please understand, I don't trust him quite yet."

Pisti and Yam thought for a moment and then nodded, Then Katara began explaining the hundred year war and Sozin's comet.

"Oh, that does sound bad." Pisti said.

"A hundred year war…" Yam contemplated out loud. "That almost sounds like-" Before she could finish she was interrupted by a noise that Katara had never heard before, it sounded like some sort of an alarm.

"Oh!" Yam exclaimed "Is it that time already? You ladies will have to excuse me, Sharrkan and I have a pest to take care of."

"C'mon Katara," Pisti said beginning to follow Yam "You should really see this."

Katara followed them outside and she saw what the fuss was about, There was a large sea serpent attacking.

'That's not good.' Katara thought 'Although, it kinda reminds me of the Unagi.'

Katara watched with the others as Sharrkan and Yamahara took care of the whole thing by themselves.

'I don't know why Sin would want me here.' Katara thought "they seem more than capable, and I'm nowhere near that talented.'

Katara didn't have very long to think on that. Because, as she soon learned, the slaying of the serpent meant that there was to be a festival that night. Yam offered her some traditional clothes to wear, but Katara politely declined.

"Not to be rude or anything like that, but I don't think there's enough material there to even qualify as clothes."

Yam chuckled a small bit "That's alright, you don't have to wear it then."

Katara was stunned by how beautiful the island had become, not that it was ever unattractive before. But, the atmosphere a cheer heightened the Sindria's beauty even farther. Katara wandered a bit by herself, listening to music and eating a few different things. Alcohol was being served everywhere, but Katara didn't drink and saw no reason to start. She didn't drink anything she wasn't absolutely sure had no alcohol in it. Which amounted to just water.

Sin had been drinking heavily all night long. The festival was winding down now, and Sin was exhausted. But on his way to his room Sin saw Katara in one of the hallways near the courtyard. He ran over to meet her.

"Hey Katara!" He called out.

"Hello Sinbad." She replied

"Did you enjoy the festivities?" He asked

"Yes, the festival was quite nice."

Sin moved in a little closer to her. Katara cringed as the scent of alcohol hit her.

"Ugh….Have you been drinking?" She asked slightly disgusted.

"Perhaps a small bit" Sin joked.

The pale moonlight made Katara's deep brown hair shine, and her blue eyes shone brilliantly, contrasting with the darkness of night. Sin felt that now was the time to make a big move. Without warning Sinbad pulled Katara close to him and kissed her. His mouth, well trained from years of experience, moved without him even thinking. Each soft movement perfectly executed, and the tender touch of his fingers on the arch of her back. The sweet smell of her hair was intoxicating.

Katara was stunned for a good moment or two. When she recovered She pushed him away.

Sinbad looked at her in confusion "What?" He asked

"Don't 'What?' Me!" Katara yelled in fury "What do you think gives you the right to kiss a girl like that!?"

"Oh? Did I do it a way you didn't like? Because I could try-"

"That's not the problem!" Katara fumed "What made you think it was okay for you to kiss me!"

"Well, normally when I kiss girls they like it so…"

Katara was too furious to listen to anymore of what Sin had to say. In an off-the-hip move she uncapped her waterskin and froze Sin to the ceiling. Katara walked off before Sin could even process what had happened.

Ja'far had been looking for Sinbad all morning. He hadn't been seen all day and Ja'far was beginning to worry something had happened.  
'I'm used to Sin shrugging off his duties,' he thought 'But at least I'm normally able to FIND him!'

A drop of water fell from the ceiling and interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and saw Sinbad frozen to the ceiling! And somehow he was asleep!

"Sinbad!" Ja'far exclaimed in shock, waking Sin "You're frozen to the ceiling!"

"Thanks Ja'far, I hadn't noticed." Sin sighed in an annoyed tone "I've been up here all night."

"How did you even get UP there?!"

"Katara stuck me up here."

"What?! Why?!"

"I'm not sure…..I was kinda drunk at the time, something about me kissing her."

Ja'far struck his temple with his palm. Of course that this had happened due to Sin's nature around girls.

"I'm going to find Katara and have her get you down, then you need to patch up what you did." Ja'far

"What?! Can't you just get Yam to do it?" Sinbad almost begged.

"This is more than just getting you down, you need to apologize."

Katara had been talking to Yamahara when Ja'far found her. She was still very upset and said she'd get him down, but didn't want to hear any apology from him.

"I've heard it before and I know now that he doesn't mean a word of it." She explained.

Katara begrudgingly thawed the ice and Sinbad fell to the floor with a wet thud. He got to his feet with as much dignity as he could muster.

"So, Katara, About last night," He began

"Save it." She snapped "I don't want to hear it."

Katara walked off.

'I can't wait to get out of here.' She thought to herself. 'I sure hope the others aren't having this much trouble.'


	2. Chapter 2- Toph

**Chapter two: Toph.**

Toph woke slowly, her limbs were sore and she could feel leaves scratching at her gently. Wherever she was she was in a bush. Judging by her pain and how crushed the bush seemed to be she'd fallen into it and fell unconscious for a time. She got up onto her feet.

"Katara? Aang? Sokka? Anyone?" She called, she couldn't feel them anywhere. In fact, she couldn't really feel anyone. She walked out of the bush and found a path. Not sure what else she could do she began to follow the path. After a little while she began to feel a great deal of people all going somewhere. She figured that was her best bet to find her friends, so she went to where the people were. It seemed that people were trying to get into a city, and there was some sort of checkpoint to go through. A large man with a hammer stood guarding the entrance, and no matter who it was who tried to get in he swung his hammer at them. It seemed to Toph that he was trying to see if they could stop him, if they could they were let in and if not they were sent away. Toph wasn't sure exactly how they stopped it , all she could feel was intense vibrations and the hammer seemed to strike something. Every time it happened she heard an impact sound that sounded a bit like really strong glass to her. Seeing no reason not to she approached the checkpoint. She knew she could stop the hammer, and she figured her friends could too, So there was a good chance she'd find them in the city. Toph stood in line until it was her turn. The large man sneered at her disbelievingly.

"A weak-armed looking runt can't be that strong" he jeered

Toph was being underestimated, and she didn't like that.

"Why don't you just swing your hammer at me and we'll see." She mocked back.

Toph readied herself as the man swung, and she created a rock barrier around herself. Her timing was absolutely perfect.

"Oi! What's the big idea?" The man demanded angrily "You're supposed to let me strike your borg!"

"I don't know what that is." Toph said

"Don't be stupid!" The man snapped "Any magician who's as skilled with earth magic to do what you just did-"

"It's not magic," Toph interrupted in an annoyed tone "It's just earth be-"

"Don't lie you runt!" The man snapped

Another man stumbled over from a little farther into the checkpoint. He seemed to be moving rather frantically. The smaller man whispered something to the larger man. It was so quiet that most wouldn't have been able to hear it, but Toph could hear a little bit.

"...She didn't use any…..will want to see her…" Was all she could make out.

Other people approached her.

"Young lady," One of them said, while the others surrounded her, he spoke very apprehensively. "May we ask where you're from?"

Toph thought a moment as to whether or not she wanted to answer that

"I'm from the earth kingdom and that's all you need to know." She said stubbornly.

"I….I'm sorry….I've never heard of that place." The man said nervously, everyone around her seemed tense, like they were trying to catch a butterfly.

Toph didn't like it. "Look," She said athoritarily "All I want is to get into your city, I didn't come for trouble here."

The people seemed to relax a little and then to tense up again.

"If you'll follow us we can make it so you can go into the city." the man said promisingly. Seeing no other feasible option she, begrudgingly, agreed to be lead into the city. Before she even took two steps past the checkpoint she already felt something odd about the town, the ground beneath her her felt hollow, a sign there was a cave of some sort beneath them. That alone wouldn't have been too far out of the ordinary, but the ground also vibrated gently. It was so slight normal people wouldn't notice it, but Toph could. It was unlike anything she'd felt prior and she wondered what it could be.

Mogamett had been told there was a magician of extraordinary talent for him to see, one that could manipulate earth without the use magoi. He was suspicious though, there was no way that could've been true, it must have been a trick. He entered the room where the girl was being kept. She was sitting at a table near a window, she looked incredibly disinterested somehow. She looked about twelve years old, now he was all the more sure it'd had been a trick. True, young people could be talented, but there was no way someone so young could surpass the rules of magic, even magis couldn't do magic without magoi. Still, Mogamett thought it best to allow the girl to come forth with her charade on her own. He sat down in a chair across from her.

"Are you the one they said could manipulate the earth without a magoi exchange?" He asked kindly.

"I guess so." The girl said in a coarse tone "You all are acting like you've never seen an earthbender before."

"Earthbender?" He asked, an air of ponder to his voice, " Would that happen to be a regional term?"

"Um, no. That's what everybody calls them." She replied confusedly.

"Well, if you truly can manipulate earth without an exchange, you wouldn't mind demonstrating for me, would you?"

"Sure thing gramps." She said dismissively. She got up from the chair and stood a little ways away from the table. She bent down and felt the tiled floor.

"These are tiles," She said "and if my hands and feet are telling me correctly, they're made from some sort of clay."

Mogamett arched his eyebrow suspiciously. With one stomp of her foot she brought several of the tiles up off the floor, they hovered in the air. She went to each tile and with a flick of her finger she sent each of them into the wall behind Mogamett. She had done what he thought was impossible, not only did she do it without a magoi exchange, she was able to do it without uttering a single spell. He had to be calm about this. He wanted to have her in his school, the power that she had would give them immense influence and battle prowess. But, he wasn't sure why she was here, for all he knew she could be a spy from Leam.

"Why have you come to Magnostadt?" He asked her.

"Is that where I am?" She asked, but she didn't really seem to care. "I'm here because my friends and I got separated."

"Ah, so you believe your friends to be in the city." Mogamett said smilingly.

'I wonder, could her friends be more earthbenders?' he thought

"It's the only lead I have." She replied "Can I go now?"

"What is your name?" He asked

"What?"

"I just want to know your name."

"...My name is Toph."

"Toph, pleasure to meet you, my name is Mogamett."

"Okay gramps, but that's not what I asked you."

"I'd like to invite you to be a part of my school."

"What? I don't want to be a part of any dumb school." Toph said angrily.

"Please, if you would we'd be more than happy to allow you to search for your friends."

"And if I don't?" She asked challengingly

"Well. if you were to refuse, we'd have to have you escorted out of the city."

Toph glared at him, there was a clear look of defiance in to her, but still she seemed smart enough to know that he was in charge and she needed to follow the rules.

"Fine." She growled Mogamett smiled. "Welcome to Magnostatt."

Toph decided it best not to cause trouble just yet. She knew if she wanted any chance at finding her friends she'd have to play along with that old fart Mogamett. It was late at night now. She was given a scroll that, she assumed, had something written on it, was sent to a room and told she had a roommate. She went in the room and indeed someone was there. She was pretty sure it was a boy, although his build and stance suggested he was a girl.

"Hello." He said sweetly "You must be the roommate I was told about."

"Yeah, guess I am." she replied.

"Well, I'm Titus. I look forward to getting to know you."

"I'm Toph, and sorry to disappoint you, but I'm just hanging around here until I find my friends."

"Huh? Oh well, if your friends are other magicians I'm sure they're around."

"I don't know what that means, and quite frankly I don't really care."

Titus seemed to be confused by Toph's abrasiveness, but she wasn't there to make friends and at the moment was in a pretty foul mood. Still, Titus tried to be friendly to her.

"Uh, so what classes are you in?"

"Don't know, don't care. I'm not here for that."

"Well, I'm not sure what else you'd be here for, but your scroll should say. Haven't you looked at it yet."

"Nope. I can't do that." Toph replied

"Huh? Don't be ridiculous, it's not like it's hard to-"

Toph sighed angrily, she might as well get the elephant-rhino into the room now. "I'm blind." She said.

"What?" Titus said, still in shock

"I'm not going to repeat myself, so if you didn't catch it don't expect me to say it again!" Toph snapped

"No, I understood, it's just I never expected a blind person could be a magician, what with the level of study involved."

"I'm not a magician." Toph said "I have no idea what that means."

"Well, if you're not a magician, then how did you get into the school?"

"I dunno, that old Mogamett guy seemed impressed by my earthbending."

"What's earthbending?"

"For the love of- I swear I can't believe nobody here knows this."

"Well, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was such a dumb question." Titus said defensively "Well, doesn't matter too much I guess, let's just take a look at your classes."

Toph sighed, it was clear that this guy wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Wow! You're a second level already! That's great!"

"Is it?" Toph asked disinterestedly.

"Yeah, speaking of which, where is your uniform and medal?"

Toph shrugged "I dunno." She lied, she did know, they had been offered to her and she'd refused them.

"Well, you being high up means that we have similar classes, and look, we even have some classes together. I can escort you to those." Titus said

"Why would I need you to do that?" Toph asked lying on the floor.

"Well, I mean, how else are you to find your classes?"

"What? You think I can't find them on my own?"

"Uh, you did say you were blind."

"I said I was blind, not that I was incapable. You think just because I can't see I can't take care of myself?!"

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you." Titus apologized.

"Whatever." Toph said "Just let me sleep."

"You're sleeping on the floor?" Titus asked

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Nothing! I just thought you should know-"

"That there's another bed. I know, I prefer the floor."

"Oh, okay then."

It was early morning now. Toph didn't normally wake early. But she didn't want to hear anything out of Titus so she decided to get out of the room as early as she possibly could. There were other people out and about as well. Toph wasn't sure why, but didn't really care. Then something caught her attention, from not far off she felt light and quick footsteps. They felt familiar to her, then she realized they must have been Aang's! They rounded a corner, but Toph chased after them.

"I knew I'd find you," She said happily "I'd know your baby footsteps anywhere twinkl-"

It wasn't Aang, Toph rounded the corner to meet a boy about her height who turned and looked at her confusedly. Toph stared in shock, she couldn't believe, that she'd mistaken his footsteps for Aang's.

"Hm?" The boy said curiously "Are you looking for me?"

"No." Toph said, slightly embarrassed "I- I thought you were a friend of mine."

The boy smiled "That's okay," He said extending his hand "I'm Aladdin."

"Toph." she replied shaking his hand.

"Who is this friend you are looking for?"

"Just…" Toph thought for a moment, she didn't see a reason to tell him exactly who she was looking for, and she didn't trust these people. "Just some people I got separated from."

Aladdin was intrigued by Toph. The magoi behaved strangely around her, they landed on her from time to time in a strange extra-flighty manner. Especially her hands and feet. It was odd.

"How did you get separated from them?" he asked her.

"Not important." The girl replied, she seemed very secretive. Aladdin wasn't sure why.

"So, you think they're here?" Aladdin asked

"I'm hoping. I'm kinda new around so this is the only place I can think to look." she said Aladdin was going to ask her to elaborate, but Titus came along and interrupted their conversation.

Toph didn't want to go with Titus, so when she got over the shock of him suddenly pulling her away she dug in her heels, tearing up the floor in the process.

"What's the big idea?!" she yelled

"We're going to be late to class." Titus told her "Besides, you shouldn't be talking to him."

"First, I don't care about class, second, why not?"

"Because, he's in the sixth class, he's below us."

Toph couldn't believe what she was hearing. That didn't make the least bit of sense to her. " 'Below us'? What the heck is that supposed to mean?" She demanded

"It's just the way this works," He explained "We're more skilled than they are so we shouldn't really associate with them."

She didn't like the fact that Titus was telling her who she could or could not associate with.

"Listen up girly walk! I'll associate with whomever I like! I don't appreciate you telling me how to judge person either!" She yelled

"I..GIRLY WALK?!" Titus fumed "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Exactly what it sounds like, most of the time I mistake your footsteps for a girl's." Toph shot back.

Titus sputtered a bit, clearly offended. Toph didn't care though.

Somehow Titus had dragged Toph to her class, but that was not the end of that day's strife for her. The teacher of that particular class was a cantankerous old woman. She walked in a hunched manner, eerily reminiscent of a vulture-wasp, and patrolled her classroom constantly, almost as if she was expecting someone to be doing something they shouldn' very first thing that this teacher did was put a book in front of Toph. That really annoyed her. Of course after that she just sat there and did absolutely nothing, and sat in the most apathetic manner possible. Of course, the teacher didn't like this. She stalked right over to Toph, ready to chew her out.

"Young lady!" She said, clearly infuriated "I find it hard to believe that you've read chapters one through three in that book already."

"I haven't, I can't actually."

"Don't be ridiculous you!" the teacher scolded "If you plan to stay in this school you're gonna have to work for it."

"I don't actually want to stay here." Toph replied, her tone still apathetic. "I'm just hanging around until I figure out where my friends have gone."

"You impudent brat! How dare you show such disrespect for this school!" The teacher spat.

Toph had had enough of this teacher.

Mogamett stroked his beard thoughtfully as he examined the large hole in the classroom ceiling and the destroyed floor tiles. That Toph was beginning to become a problem. Attacking a teacher was definitely something that she'd have to be punished for. But normally that would lead to an expulsion, could Mogamett afford to expel her? This talent was something that definitely needed to at least be studied, if not used. But she was so erratic and uncontrollable, could she safely be kept here? He left the destroyed classroom to go to Toph, who was being held in her dorm. Mogamett entered, Toph was lying on her back on the floor. She fidgeted a bit at his entrance, she knew he was there.

"Toph," Mogamett began sternly "Why did you attack your teacher?"

Toph shrugged "She was annoying me. And wouldn't believe me when I said I couldn't read."

"You can't read?" Mogamett asked disbelievingly "What do you mean?"

Toph sighed and pulled back her long, black, bangs, revealing cloudy silver eyes.

"I'm blind, I've always been blind." She said.

Mogamett was shocked "You seem very capable for a blind girl."

"I can see, I'm just blind, so I use the vibrations coming into my feet, rather than using my eyes."

"That would explain why you can't read then, but that's still not an acceptable reason to attack a teacher."

Toph scowled. "So expel me. I'm beginning to not care at this point! This whole day I haven't gotten a chance to go search for my friends, and they sure ain't around this school! If I get kicked outta here my friends will come find me!"

She sounded a little uncertain, and Mogamett had a sneaking suspicion that this was an empty threat, but he couldn't afford to test that theory. Mogamett thought for a good few minutes, then he had an idea.

"I'll make a deal with you, if you can defeat one of my top students you can stay here without attending classes, provided you consent to some non-invasive testing."

"And if I don't?" Toph challenged

"Then you will participate in the school as a normal student would."

Toph glared at the old man, judging him without seeing him.

"Fine." she said with a tone of cool anger.

Aladdin couldn't believe what was going on. Toph, the girl whom he'd met just that morning, was going to fight that Titus guy. The whole school had come out to watch, this seemed barbaric. From what Aladdin had heard she had to do this either because she was expelled and was trying to get back into the school, or this _was_ the punishment she was to receive. Either way everyone seemed excited. Especially the teachers.

"Why do you suppose the teachers are so worked up?" Aladdin asked Sphintus.

"I heard it's because that girl attacked one of her teachers." Sphintus replied

Aladdin's eyes widened in surprize. He hadn't been expecting to hear that. It was true he didn't really know her all that well, but Toph didn't seem like the kind of person to attack unprovoked.

Toph took a deep breath. There was lots of commotion in the stands of the arena, she could hear them all, yelling, talking, cheering, hissing, the works. It was eerily reminiscent of her days being the blind bandit. Toph shook the nostalgia and confusing feelings those memories brought up from her head. She had to focus. She turned in the direction of Titus.

"You ready to dance, girly walk?" She taunted

"I won't be going easy on you just because you're blind." Titus retorted.

"Oooo, I'm shaking." Toph taunted further.

"That's enough." Mogamett called over the crowd's ruckus, silence fell over everyone as they listened to him.

"I want this to be a clean fight with no deaths, am I understood?" He asked Toph and Titus

"Yes, sir!" Titus replied.

"Yeah, sure, I got it." Toph waved off.

"Shake hands." Mogamett ordered.

Toph Reluctantly shook Titus's hand

"Get ready for a beating." she whispered to him.

"Those are some big words from such a little girl." Titus said back

Toph felt enraged by those words.

"Return to your respective areas and wait for the signal to begin fighting." Mogamett ordered further. The fighters obeyed. Toph took another breath and got into a ready stance. A signal rang out. Toph felt Titus jump off the ground, she waited to see where he would land so she could attack, but she soon realized he hadn't jumped, he'd begun to fly. She'd spared with Aang enough that she knew she could handle him flying, although it caught her off guard she was ready to counter whatever he threw at her. She heard Titus yell something in a language that Toph didn't know, then she felt heat approaching her. Quickly she brought up a rock barrier. She felt the heat hit the barrier and dissipate. Acting before Titus could move she sent three blocks out of her barrier and hurling towards where she though Titus was at high speeds. Two were thrown into the wall and embedded into it with a solid smack, but the third seemed to at least have sailed towards him, there was another strange shout and then an unmistakeable sound, the sound of earth being broken apart and crumbling, followed. Toph knew where titus was now, She began to raise pillars of earth out of the stone floor and climbed them to get up to the level Titus was flying at. Standing atop one of the pillars she began to turn a nearby one into discs to throw at him, Titus dodged a few and destroyed a few more, although he did all of that with difficulty. Titus was unable to dodge three of the discs, they all struck his borg (Although Toph didn't know what it was that she had hit) and they hit with such force that they shattered it. Toph heard it break with a glass-like shatter. Titus was angry now. He first set spikes of ice up across the battlefield. At first Toph was confused by this, but before she could figure out why Titus yelled again. She felt some sort of force try to knock her off her pillar, luckily she was able to embed her feet into the rock. Titus laughed. Then Toph felt  
something small floating nearer, it was vibrating intensely, like a ball of pure energy. Toph knew it was bad news, but it was too late for her to react. It exploded with a shocking amount of force. Toph was blown from her perch. She was able to soften the ground beneath her to break her fall. Toph got to her feet as quickly as she could, then she realized something shocking. Her left foot had an enormous gouge in it! Blood was spilling from the wound in mass amounts, Luckily Toph thought quick and hardened mud into the wound to seal it. But now she couldn't see as well as she normally could. She was beyond angry now, although she could barely see she could still tell where Titus was. She coated her body in the rubble Titus had made out of her attacks, forming a set of earthen armor around her body. She ran until she was certain she was directly under him, Titus didn't make it easy for her either. He was fast and sent countless projectiles at her, But Toph was done being pushed around, she had to end this quickly. Toph needed to have her foot seen to if she wanted any hope of getting even slight feeling back in her foot. When she was in position she used the ground to launch herself up. She seized Titus by his robe. He gave a shocked gasp, then he tried to chant something else. Toph didn't give him the chance. Her rock coated fist slammed into his diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him. She continued to punch him, not holding back, her anger growing with each fist that connected. Eventually Mogamett called that the fight was over. Toph turned away from Titus, who was doubled over in pain and had a small trickle of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. As he slumped to the ground he gave a feeble cough. Mogamett ordered that both fighters should be given medical attention.

Aladdin watched in shock as the battle ended. His own thoughts drowning out the sounds of the crowd. Toph had won the fight without using one ounce of magic, and yet the earth obeyed her commands. Aladdin couldn't understand how she could've done that. It was inconceivable, and yet it'd happened right in front of him. Then there was her brutality, after her foot had been injured she had become almost animal-like. Aladdin wondered why it'd taken that for her to snap. But he was worried about not only her, but Titus as well, he'd really taken a beating. He decided to follow them to the healing ward.

Toph was fighting back tears as a few adults lead her down a hall. They offered to carry her, but Toph had her pride, despite being her foot being wounded, she would walk. Titus, on the other hand, wasn't conscience. Toph hadn't intended to hurt him that badly, but she had lost restraint when her foot was gashed.

When they got to where they were going a woman tried to get the mud out of Toph's wound.

"No!" Toph yelled snatching her foot back "Don't! You'll make it worse!" she scrunched up her face against the dull pain.

"But, if you don't let me see it I can't tell how bad it is. And if I can't tell how bad it is we can't heal it properly." The woman protested kindly.

"Heal?" Toph questioned quizzically "Are you waterbenders?"

"Huh?" the woman replied "Um, no, no. Most of us are life magicians."

Toph wasn't sure what that meant, but she knew for certain she didn't trust these people fully yet.

"Toph!" A familiar voice called. Toph noticed Aladdin approaching.

"Oh it's you!" Toph said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you and Titus, that fight was pretty bad." Aladdin replied.

Toph stared down a little"Yeah, it was."

Aladdin's attention went to Toph's foot. "Wow, that looks a lot worse up close!" He said "And there's mud in it!"

"Yeah, I'm using the mud to keep the blood in my foot!" Toph said

Aladdin looked at Toph with a concerned and caring look.

"Is it alright?"

"Not really, but it'd be better it was left alone." Toph glared at the nurse.

"No, you don't understand." Aladdin said sweetly "they can fix it so it's good as new."

Toph looked at Aladdin with skepticism, could anyone really make her foot good as new? Not even Katara would be able to do that. But somehow, Toph felt as if Aladdin could be trusted. There was something in about him that was familiar feeling to toph, she couldn't quite place what, but for some reason Aladdin reminded her of Aang.

"A-alright." Toph said reluctantly "I'll let you treat my foot, but if it ends up worse than it is now I'll personally knock you through the roof." She said to the nurse. Who swallowed nervously. Toph bended the mud out of her wound, which proceeded to bleed profusely. The nurse said something else in that language Toph didn't understand. Right after Toph felt unexplainable pain in her foot, it was as if it had been set on fire, she roared out in pain as bon began to knit itself back together, muscle wove back into the red covering it had been, and skin began to spring forth to cover the whole squishy mass. Then, as suddenly as it had came the pain ceased, leaving Toph to run her fingers down her newly re-formed foot. It felt identical to its twin, it was just as callused, felt the same in size and the thickness of the skin, and as she tested it, she was delighted to find that her foot could see as well as it always had been able to.

Titus took a little bit more work, but eventually he was back to his old self as well. Toph apologized for how out of control she'd gotten, and Titus, eventually, reluctantly, accepted it.

Toph was, as per her agreement with Mogamett, able to reside at the school while looking for her friends, but she hadn't had a chance to look for them, because the tests and observations she'd agreed to allow took up good chunks of her energy and time. When she wasn't busy and they weren't in class she hung around Aladdin and his friend Sphintus, both of whom she got along great with. She became fast friends with them both. On the day of testing Toph was delighted when it turned out that Aladdin would be jumping ahead quite a few levels. Not that she really understood what it meant, she was just happy about it because he was.

"This means that we'll be able to go into town together." Aladdin said excitedly

Toph was excited to hear that. After spending a good couple weeks there she was certain her friends weren't at the school. So her next best bet was the town.

"Good, if I can get away from these weirdoes and find my friends it'd be great." Toph said

Aladdin looked at Toph with curiosity, over the few weeks he'd known her he'd begun to like her. Still, he knew so little about her. He had no idea where she was from, or even what the people she was looking for looked like, or what their names were. Whenever he'd ask something like that he'd always get a response like "They're just some friends of mine." or "I'll know them when I see them." As much as he could tell that Toph liked him, he still didn't feel like she trusted him. It wasn't exclusive to him though, Toph didn't seem to trust anyone from the school. That made it a little more easy for him to deal with. What he really wanted to know was how she was able to move the earth without using spells or magoi. He'd seen her do it since her fight with Titus, but he still didn't understand it any better. All he could ever see when she did it was the rukh around her hands and feet would get excited, and that was it. Aladdin hadn't really inquired her about it, he hadn't really gotten a chance to. But he decided that he would that afternoon. Sphintus had classes, but he and Toph didn't have anything going on. Toph and Aladdin met up and began walking. There were very few people walking and that was good for Aladdin's plan.

"Toph, can I ask you a question?"

"Depends, what about?"

"Well, I was just wondering, what exactly is earthbending?"

Toph appeared to be thinking hard, about what Aladdin couldn't be sure, but eventually she spoke.

"If I had to describe it I'd say it's being one with the rock, in body and spirit."

Aladdin thought for a few moments "Is that how you can move it without using magic?"

"I guess." She shrugged "How does magic work?"

This time it was Aladdin's turn to think. "Hm, well you basically use your life force to cause things to happen by using spells, there are eight basic types and subtypes within them. Does bending take life force?"

"No, It takes energy, but I wouldn't say it takes _life force_." Toph replied

Aladdin thought about what Toph said, and things made sense. Deciding to try his luck he decided to ask her about her trust.

"Toph, do you trust me?" he asked

"Where did that come from?" She asked

"It just doesn't seem to me like you trust anybody here." He replied

"I don't" she replied "there's something, off about this place, I can feel it."

"Off?" Aladdin asked

"Yeah, I can't quite place it, but something about this place doesn't feel right."

Aladdin nodded, he couldn't say he hadn't felt something similar.

"But do you trust me?" Aladdin asked again

"I think I trust you," Toph began, struggling to find the words "You seem trustworthy, but I can't be sure of anything like that right now. I will say this, I trust you the most out of anyone here."

Aladdin smiled a bright smile "Really?" he asked

Toph gave him a hard punch on the arm. "Sure thing." she said with a smile

Aladdin clutched his arm as it began to bruise, but he knew she'd meant it playfully.

Mogamett was in his study pouring over the studies that had been done on Toph. 'This is quite ponderous.' he thought to himself 'We've been studying her for a few weeks now, and we know hardly more than we did when she showed up.' He continued to think. He remembered that Toph had said she was going into town the next day, hopefully she and her friends wouldn't come across anything he didn't want them to.

Toph was taking her first visit into the town that was Magnoshutatt. She had decided to go with Aladdin, Sphintus, and , rather reluctantly, Titus. But recently Titus and her had warmed up to each other, granted they were far from being good friends, but they didn't

hate each other. Unsure about what else to do she just followed them around, keeping a watchful foot out for her friends. Something about the town was making Toph constantly dizzy, it was kinda making her sick. Aladdin seemed to notice her discomfort.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied "I just, I feel disoriented."

"You should sit for awhile." Aladdin said while caringly guiding her over to a bench. Toph sat, and after a few moments she felt better. As she stood she realized what was wrong, the ground was _Vibrating_! A constant small hum came from within the earth, it was so slight that anyone else wouldn't be able to tell.

"The earth…" She said, stooping to feel it under her palms "It's shaking."

"Your crazy." Sphintus said "It's perfectly still."

"No, really! It's shaking." Toph insisted.

"That's impossible." Titus agreed with Sphintus "We certainly don't feel anything, do you Aladdin?"

Aladdin looked from Toph back to Titus and Sphintus

"I don't," he began "But, I trust Toph's judgement. She does see through her feet after all, she probably knows more about what's going on in the earth than we do."

"Well, if it is is shaking, what is causing it?" Aladdin asked.

"It feels like...something under the city is causing it, it's fuzzy though. The shaking is interfering with my vision."

"Well, Maybe it's something in the lower level of the city." Sphintus said, Toph Turned her attention to him.

"Lower level?"

Toph was absolutely dumbfounded by the slum she found herself in. It was a small city, but she could feel the presence of so many people within it. The stagnant odor of filth and decay was hanging in the air. It was also dimly lit, as it was below the city. But the thing that shocked her the most was she found the source of the hummining. A large….Toph wasn't sure what it was, but it was huge, and pulsating, as if it were alive.

"Th-that," Aladdin began to say, looking at thing with her "It's taking away the people's magoi."

Toph turned to Aladdin "Didn't you say that was their life-force? Won't this kill them?!"

"Yes. Yes this thing is taking their life away." Aladdin said somberly.

Toph clenched her fists, Titus had told her on the way that this was where the non-magicians lived, it didn't take that much of a look around to figure out that those who lived here were treated as less than human. Simply because of something they couldn't do, something they had no control over. Balling up her hands into fists, Toph tried in vain to fight back bitter emotions. The resentment, the sorrow, the pity, the _Memories._ She remembered back before she'd learned how to earthbend, how alone and helpless she'd felt, how she felt at the mercy of her situation. The only difference between her and them was she had been able to change her situation, these people couldn't do anything about where they were, or that they couldn't use magic. The bitterness soon turned into disgust and rage. She knew that Mogamett had to know what was going on, this wasn't like Ba Sing Se, there was no evil advisor doing this behind his back, no. Toph knew this was Mogamett's doing. Her suspicions were confirmed, this place was not to be trusted. Aladdin noticed her state, and seemed to be trying to think of a way to calm her down. But nothing was said, and nothing he could've said would've calmed her anyway. Some distance off something broke Toph from her swirling thoughts and memories. A guard was attacking a woman, for what reason Toph didn't know. The guard was a large brute of a man, and the woman looked small and frail. Without thinking Toph stomped her foot and the ground and sent a tremor rumbling toward the guard, knocking him off his feet.

"Why don't you go find a fair fight?" Toph snarled to him. The guard turned his attention to Toph and the others.

"What the hell do you brats think you're doing?!" He demanded "You know very well you aren't supposed to interfere with the guards. Hell knows why you're even down here in the first place! You're lucky that I'm already late to report to my superiors or you'd all be in a great deal of hot water."

"Oh really?! Because the only thing I can see that's worthy of 'being in hot water' is a big oaf beating a woman who can't fight back. Someone has to knock him down about five pegs." Toph snarled

"Oh-HO!" The guard chuckled in a threatening manner "You think you can do that, you runt?!"

"Name the time and place." Toph said

"TOPH!" Sphintus interrupted "It's not a good idea to pick fights with the guards!"

"I don't care!" Toph snapped back.

The guard began to walk away, already disinterested in them. Toph wanted to pelt a rock in his direction, but Aladdin put his hand on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality. Toph realized the woman still hadn't picked herself off the ground, she went to see if she was okay.

"Are you alr-" Toph was cut off by the feeling and scent of slightly bloody saliva hitting her face.

"I don't need you damned magician's pity or help." The woman growled.

Toph wiped the offending substance off her face. At first she was angry, but she realized that she would've done the same when she was younger, she would've done the same before she met Aang and the others for that matter. It was just the anger and frustration of being treated as less than others. It was a feeling that didn't discriminate, it would lash out at whoever. Deciding that Mogamett had some explaining to do they left the slums and headed back to the school. Toph was already certain of what he would say, he would say it didn't matter, that they were happy the way they were. That's what those who didn't understand always said.

'After I'm done chewing this guy out,' Toph thought 'I'm leaving, my friends aren't here, there's no point in staying. I'm going to find the others.'

 **A/N:**

 **I am so happy that the first chapter was so well received!** **I am also happy so many people reviewed the first chapter! :3 In regards to fears that I will not finish this story, don't worry I plan to finish it, it just takes me a while to update. I'm sorry, but please bare with me. Also, if this chapter seems to end abruptly that's because I'm going to return to this scene later on in the story. I hope this chapter is as good as the first. Please leave me a review with your opinion. 3**


	3. Chapter 3- Sokka

Chapter 3- Sokka

Alibaba look anxiously at the night sky, there were lot's of clouds and it looked like there was a good chance there'd be a storm. The thought of being caught at sea during a big storm didn't exactly thrill him, but they were so far from land by then there wasn't much they could do other than wait. The water churned, reflecting Alibaba's state of mind. Before he could think any farther on the subject Alibaba noticed something falling from the sky….no not something, someone! A person was plummeting from the sky. Alibaba didn't have the time to wonder who it was before they hit the water. With the ocean churning and raging the way it was whoever was out there wouldn't be able to stay afloat for long.

"MAN OVERBOARD!" Alibaba yelled, grabbing the attention of as many deckhands as he could. He swiftly fastened one end of a rope to his waist, the other end was tied to the boat. Taking a deep breath he jumped into the water and began to swim toward where the person had struck the water. Once he got within earshot of the person he heard frantic calling

"KATARA! KATARA WHERE ARE YOU?! ANSWER ME PLEASE!" The voice was distinctly male, but that fact took a backseat to the fact that the person was hysterically thrashing and flailing. If he continued to panic like that he would go under before Alibaba could get to him. As if on cue, just as Alibaba thought that the man disappeared beneath the waves.

"Damn!" Alibaba cursed as he dove to try and recover the drowning man. He was able to reach th man just as he reached the end of his life line. After a few sharp tugs the men of the ship began pulling them back aboard the vessel.

Sokka felt the familiar gentle rocking of a ship under his back. Slowly he began to realize that he was, in fact, not dead. He didn't know where he was, but not being dead was a good place to start. Slowly he willed his eyes to open. He was staring at the timber plain that was the roof. He could tell right off the bat that this wasn't a water tribe vessel, nor could it be fire nation, there was no way they'd travel in wooden vessels like this one. At least to Sokka's knowledge. The only logical thing that he could come up with was that it was an earth kingdom boat, although he couldn't recall if the earth kingdom ever even HAD a navy. It didn't seem like something they'd be equipped to have. Sokka sat up, ignoring the pounding of blood in his brain, telling him not to stand. He slowly begun to try and stand.

"Hey!" A voice yelled, he turned to see another man about his age, he was blond with an odd cowlick pointing off his forehead, he was dressed in garb that reminded Sokka of the sandbenders.

"Don't try to stand yet! You almost drowned!" the man continued.

"Where's my sister?!" Sokka demanded.

"Seriously? You're up for all of two second and you're already making demands?!"

"I need to know if my sister is safe!"

The man sighed and hung his head in an exasperated manner, when he looked back at sokka he had a somber expression.

"I'm sorry, but you were the only one I saw plummet into the ocean."

"What?! No!! That can't be right we were all together!!" Sokka yelled

"I'm sorry, but even if there were others, they weren't saved."

Sokka sat back down, letting the words of the other man wash over him. Katara, Aang, Toph, he'd promised to take care of them, protect them, sure he wasn't a bender, but he still felt like it was his job to keep them safe. They were his family and he'd failed them.

Alibaba looked at the depressed man sitting on the edge of the bed, he'd gone from demanding to depressed in no time flat. 'Why did he just shut down like that?' Alibaba thought. 'Wait didn't he say sister? He was looking for his sister!'. A pained thought surged through Alibaba as he was reminded of the feeling of losing Cassim and Mariam, the pain of losing a sibling. Alibaba had to say something, anything. There had to be something he could do.

"Hey, I didn't see your sister fall into the ocean!" He said, perhaps a little louder than he should've.

"So?" The man replied, in an interested, yet still broken tone.

"So, there's a chance she's okay! What happened, how did you fall into the ocean."

The man's face scrunched up in concentration, clearly his memories were a little scrambled.

"We were in a forest….I was hunting with my friend Aang...there was this weird door with two left hand-prints carved into it...He got stuck on the door...everyone else came to help get him off the door….but it opened instead...I'm not sure what happened….but there was this light and the next thing I knew I was here."

Alibaba thought for a moment then realized something

"That door sounds exactly the same as the last door Aladdin and I came across in the dungeon!" he began to explain "that means there had to have been some sort of magic reaction that brought you here! So your friends are probably somewhere else!"

The man perked up.

"Are you sure?!" He asked, with an almost desperate tone. Alibaba felt sweat beginning to drip down his neck, he really didn't know any of that for certain.

"Well, uh, n-not totally sure….I really don't understand the finer points of magic so well, but it's the most likely possibility."

The man drooped a little, but is it wasn't as bad as before.

Alibaba decided to try and lighten the mood.

"What's your name?" He asked

"Huh?" the other man replied, clearly wrenched from thought.

"What's your name? We never introduced ourselves."

"Oh, right, my name is Sokka."

"Sokka, okay then, Sokka, my name is Alibaba."

Sokka nodded in understanding.

"I'm going to Leam, I don't know if your sister or any of your friends will be there, but it's the best bet you've got."

Sokka looked at Alibaba, pondering what he'd been offered. He had no idea where Leam was, but his instincts were telling him he wasn't in the same world as he'd been in before that door incident. His instincts were also telling him that Alibaba could be trusted, and that he was his best bet. He had to find Katara and the others.

"Alright." He finally said. "I'll go with you."

Alibaba extended his hand. Sokka shook it. The deal was established.

Over the next couple days Sokka was a big help to Alibaba around the ship. Sokka seemed to know almost everything about how to sail and only needed a rudimentary tour of the unfamiliar vessel.

"How do you know so much about sailing?" Alibaba asked him.

Sokka laughed "I grew up in the southern water tribe, it's a big slab of ice and snow surrounded by water. Eventually you start learning that almost every boat is fundamentally the same." sokka replied, a cocky grin on his face.

"Oh yeah?" Alibaba questioned "Sounds like a pretty crappy place."

Sokka gave a bit of an offended yet quizzical look at him.

"You may think that," Sokka began "But it was home, and when my dad left it became my duty to protect it."

Alibaba looked away, remembering the similar situation he'd been put into in his younger years and what he'd done.

"Why did you leave?" Alibaba asked

"Well, my sister wanted to help this guy…. do something really important, and I'd promised my dad I'd protect her."

Alibaba nodded, searching for a way to change the subject.

"We should get into port tonight." Alibaba said

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, then all that's left is the journey to Leam."

"That's good. I hope that my sister and my friends are there." Sokka replied

Alibaba smiled "Yeah, I'm sure they'll be there. Hey, the crew and I are gonna have a few drinks and celebrate. You should celebrate with us.

Sokka smiled sheepishly and nodded. Alibaba didn't know it, but Sokka had never touched alcohol in his life. But, people drank all the time. Sokka was sure he could handle it.

Sokka woke, his head pounding furiously. He tried to put together the events of the previous night together. The drinking had started…..that was all, that was all he remembered

'I am never touching alcohol again..' Sokka moaned internally than shivered. Wait, shivered? Sokka cracked his eyes open...he was stripped down to his underwear. What did happen last night?! Luckily he still had his club and boomerang. He then noticed that the crew was gone. Although he couldn't remember anything he quickly figured out what had happened, he'd been robbed. Glancing around the room he saw Alibaba in a similar state. They'd both been robbed. Sokka walked over to Alibaba and shook him awake.

"Ngh...Sokka? What? Why are our clothes gone?! What happened?!"

"We were robbed, that crew got us drunk and robbed us!"

Alibaba blinked and looked around, a groan issued from his lips.

Alibaba couldn't believe that his crew had betrayed him so. He seemed to have the worst luck with these sort of things. For whatever reason this kinda thing always seemed to happen. Without much else to be done about the situation Alibaba and Sokka left the vessel and began to walk. Luckily they both still had their weapons so they weren't totally defenseless as they walked through the small port town. Although they were able to beg for a few bottles of water, without any money to pay for food or lodging there was no point in lingering there long. And eventually they made it to the edge of the dessert that must be crossed to get to Leam.

"Wait, we're going through THERE?!" Sokka demanded

"Yeah-" Alibaba began to reply.

"Oh no! No, no, NO!" Sokka began to say "I promised myself I was not setting foot into another desert as long as I lived! I'm not going through there! We've gotta find another way."

"This is the fastest way!" Alibaba argued "If we go around the desert it'd take us three years!"

"Well then, let's take three years!" Sokka continued to argue.

"I don't have three years to get to Leam!"

"You're right, I don't either," Sokka conceded "How fast do you think we could run it?"

Before Alibaba could inquire about what he meant Sokka sprinted, barreling down the dessert at top speed.

"No you idiot!" Alibaba yelled, running in an attempt to catch up and not lose his travel partner. "DON'T RUN YOU'LL TIRE YOURSELF OUT!"

Sokka had run a good two and a half miles through the desert heat before he'd nearly collapsed in exhaustion, he laid down, his face in the sand. Alibaba stumbled up, gasping as he finally caught Sokka.

"That...was...stupid of….you.." He panted.

"Yeah, I get that now." Sokka said, voice muffled by sand.

After a while they continued to walk through the desert heat. It was a long, slow, hot slog through the unforgiving sun and scorching sand.

Night came and the scorching heat soon turned into biting cold. Gathering up brush, they stopped for the night and built a fire. Sokka and Alibaba sat quietly. Sokka stared up at the night sky. The moon was full.

'I wonder if that moon still carries Yue's spirit.' he thought. 'I can normally feel like she's with me, but here I'm not so sure.' The thought of the moon lacking Yue saddened him.

"You look awfully philosophical." Alibaba said while poking the fire. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Sokka sighed "Just remembering someone."

Alibaba understood the pained tone in Sokka's voice. He was remembering a passed loved one. Remembering Cassim, and Marium. He looked up at the moon as well, wondering if it made his travel companion feel any better.

After a few excruciating weeks they had finally made it to leam. After getting some food, they were feeling civil enough to talk.

"So, where are we going now?" Sokka asked.

"Hm?" Alibaba questioned.

"Well, you said you were going to Leam. You never said why."

"Huh, I guess I didn't. There's a warrior training school here that I'm determined to join. I must become stronger along with my friends."

"A warrior school huh?" Sokka pondered. He knew that there was little chance that his friends were there, but there was something that was telling him to stay with Alibaba.

"Alright, I'll go with you." He said defiantly.

"Really?" Alibaba asked in surprise.

"Yeah, my instincts are telling me to stick with you."

"Well, if you want to stick around I can't stop you."

Alibaba and Sokka came to the gates of the warrior school. Just the gates, because the woman keeping guard wasn't letting them get in.

"Without recommendations we can't just let you in." She said.

"We did not crawl through that dessert to be refused here!" Sokka yelled.

"Then fight me." She said "Without recommendation that's the only way you'll get in."

Sokka felt his face harden, he was getting anxious.

"Fine." He said "I'll go first."

He readied his club as she unsheathed her sword. It was true that he was hungry still, but he had gone without food for longer. And he could feel that if he had any chance of finding his sister, this was it. She thrust forward, blade hissing as it neared him. Seeing her fly past him he raised his arm to strike, but she swiftly doged, and upon her recoil she swung her blade, nicking the inside of Sokka's arm. He flinched and recoiled, taking his opponent with new severity. She was good, very good. There was another thrust of the sword, Sokka jumped to the side, narrowly missing. Two more swings, Sokka doged the first, but the second left a scratch on his side that burned in pain. This was not going well, any longer and this would not end well. Thinking on his feet, Sokka threw his boomerang, the flying weapon took the woman by surprise. As she was distracted Sokka slid under her feet, knocking her in the knees with his club. She toppled, her sword landing out of her reach.

She looked neutral, but vaguely impressed.

"You may go in. But not the blonde one, he still must be tested." She said.

Sokka nodded. He walked in and another person lead him to the master of the school. He was an older man, with gray hair that had been dreaded in a similar fashion to the woman outside. He also bore a mustache and two black spots donned his forehead.

"So, you wish to join my school?" He asked disinterestedly.

"Actually… no." Sokka replied.

He quirked his head up and raised an eyebrow.

"If not that then why have you come here?" he asked.

"I have been traveling with a friend as I have searched for my sister and the rest of my friends." Sokka explained "As he mentioned this place I got the feeling something here would help me find them."

The man looked thoughtful. "What's your name?" he asked.

"My name is Sokka."

"Sokka, I have never seen weapons such as the ones you carry…"

"I'm… not exactly from around here."

"Ah, you have come far in this search." The man sort of chuckled "I would like to hear more, but unfortunately I have pressing matters to attend to. Wait here and when I return you can convince me to help you find your sister."

Sokka sighed as the man left. With little other option he sat on the floor to wait. Hoping with all of his might that the others were ok.

A/N : AHAHAHAHA I LIVE!!! I'm so sorry this took me so long to do. I lost inspiration and only just got it back. I'm also sorry the end was so anticlimactic, I rewatched the episodes that took place in Leam and realized Sokka being there would change very little and anyway I could change it would be detrimental to any end. ;;; Also you probably don't want to know, but the next chapter may take even longer to write. TTnTT. It will be both Aang and Zuko's turn next!!!


End file.
